Frosh Andre Dawkins went for 20 last night. (AP photo)
—UPSET—VCU 82, No. 17 Oklahoma 69. This is cool. The lede from the AP wire: When Jeff Capel left Virginia Commonwealth to become the head coach at Oklahoma four years ago, his contract mandated that he bring his new team back to Richmond to play the Rams. If only that were the case with every coach who left a small-time program for a big boy. Six 3′s in the first 10 minutes of the game helped propel the Rams, who will definitely have this really good win as the ace in their hole all season long.
No. 4 Kentucky 92, Rider 63. Refreshing for ‘Cats fans: Rider was 4 for 17 from 13. Many thought Rider would have a field day. Wall led the team with 21 points and 11 assists.
No. 9 Duke 104, Radford 67. The supposedly guard-challenged Blue Devils drained a school-record 18 3′s.
No. 10 Butler 64, Evansville 60. Bulldogs had control of the game. Many of their single-digit wins aren’t as close as they often seem.
No. 19 Georgetown 63, Savanaah State 44. Just for conversation’s sake: Last year, G’town put up 100 against Savannah State. Coming off that ugly Temple game, do the Hoyas have some real long-term offensive concerns?
No. 20 Louisville 69, East Tenn. State 56. Pitino says his team is “painfully young.” That’s code for, “They aren’t doing what I tell them to. At all.”
No. 23 Illinois 94 , Presbyterian 48. Presbyterian? Always an excuse to link to this.
Notable:
Northeastern 64, Utah State 61. Curious.
Sacramento State 65, Oregon State 63. Possible the Beavers have already hit rock bottom? This is a team people thought could represent the Pac-10 well in a down year for the conference.
Portland 88, Oregon 81. If two’s a coincidence …
Loyola Marymount 67, USC 59. Three’s a trend. Yes, another Pac-10 team lost to a supposedly inferior opponent. Column on the conference coming Monday.
Temple 73, Siena 69. The Saints’ non-con isn’t that impressive this season. Combine that with the always-a-one-bid MAAC, and this loss could cost them an at-large. No definitely, but it’s in play. Temple = deserves your respect.
